Employees were notified of the job eliminations on Thursday. They will take effect just after the beginning of the new year.

Many of those laid off will be given the option of working on a contract basis, but such an arrangement does not include guarantees of full time work, nor does it provide benefits.

The court will tap into its reserves to fund the contract work through next year, Chief Judge Ernestine Gray told WDSU. It is unclear if funding will be available beyond that initial year.

"This is for this year," she said. "And as I have always done as a judge, I try to tell people the way it really is. So, I'm saying if we have the same situation from the City and the mayor for our budget, I don't know how we operate in 2014."

Gray said she anticipated cuts -- but not the nearly 70 percent reduction in funding that was part of the new budget.

The developments coincide with an effort to streamline operations at Juvenile Court. Right now, one of the six seats on the bench is vacant, and a City spokesman told WDSU that Mayor Mitch Landrieu has asked to postpone an election to fill that slot.

Gov. Bobby Jindal will schedule the election. A delay, spokesman Ryan Berni said, would allow the legislature to consider changes to promote "greater efficiency" and to "right-size the court."